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Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Redneck Romeo Release Party Day 2

June 18

Day Two – REDNECK ROMEO RELEASE PARTY

Lorelei James is celebrating the
release of REDNECK ROMEO with a SEVEN day party. SEVEN great
giveaways, SEVEN different posts. Stop by all the amazing blogs
participating in the party to increase your chances to win!!! Each
blog will post a special REDNECK ROMEO post all seven days.

Prize List:

1) Redneck Romeo charm bracelet

2) Kindle fire

3) Basket of goodies, including a McKay
brand fleece blanket and other McKay branded stuff and conference
trinkets

Dalton crackedone
eyelid and cast a bleary eye at the alarm clock. Seven a.m. He yanked
the quilt over his head and mumbled “f*** off” to Boden Hicks,
the idiot beating on his door.“McKay.
I’m not f***ing around. This is an emergency.”That
hauled Dalton’s ass out of bed. He unlatched the old-fashioned bolt
and opened the door. “What’s the emergency?”Boden
hustled inside but a gust of snow followed before he slammed the
heavy oak door shut. He stamped his feet. “Damn snowstorm came from
out of nowhere.”“You
better not have tricked me out of bed to complain about the goddamned
weather.”Boden
shuffled over to the woodstove to warm himself, but it’d been a
good ten hours since Dalton had loaded it up. “It’s like a damn
freezer in here.”“That’s
because I was sleeping. In my own bed, after roughing it on an elk
hunt, remember?”“Yeah,
I remember. I’m just glad the hunting party made it out before this
storm hit.” Boden unzipped his parka and pulled out Dalton’s cell
phone, still attached to the wall charger. “Normally I could give a
crap if you stay in bed a week after a hunt, but you left your phone
charging at the lodge last night. The thing’s been buzzing like
crazy. When I unplugged it, I noticed you’ve got twenty-seven
missed calls. So it’s gotta be something important.”Dalton’s
stomach knotted. Since he had little to no cell service in the
mountains, he forgot he even had a cell phone most of the time. Few
people had his number—just his brothers, his mother, his cousin
Sierra McKay, his accountant, his banker and his investment
guys.“Gimme
that.” Dalton scrolled through the missed calls. Twelve from
Brandt, twelve from Tell, three from Sierra.Had
to be bad news if his family had reached out to him.The
family he hadn’t seen in three years.“What’s
going on?”He
glanced up at Boden. “No clue. I haven’t bothered to set up my
voice mail on this phone so I’ll have to call to find out.”Boden
sighed. “Speaking of…I wanted to make sure your two-way is
charged. Since you have an issue with technology that allows people
to get in touch with you.”“It’s
charged. I laid in a store of food before the huntin’ trip so I can
ride out the storm.”“Good.
We’re supposed to get a foot of snow today and maybe more tonight.”
Boden crouched in front of the woodstove and chucked kindling in the
cold embers before setting the torch to the pile. “Might be a
couple days before you can get out, if you need to go home.”Home.
It didn’t have the same connotation it once did. When it was all
he’d known. “I’ll let you know what’s goin’ on as soon as I
know.”Boden
piled several small logs in the black box before he stood. “You
worried?”Dalton
shrugged.But
Boden didn’t buy his act; he never had, which was why they’d
become such good friends. “You want me to stick around?”“Nah.
I’ll put on a pot of coffee before I call my brother.” He
smirked. “Get on back to the lodge. Bree would jam my nuts in a
vise if you got snowed in with me instead of with her.”“Your
nuts ain’t ever gonna be anywhere near my wife’s hands,
McKay.”He
laughed. “I know your kink doesn’t extend to sharing.”“Damn
straight.” Boden zipped up his parka and slipped on his gloves.
“You need anything, buzz us. If we don’t answer right
away—”“I’ll
assume you’re tied up. Or rather, you’re tying Bree up.”As
soon as Boden left, Dalton started coffee. Then he stripped off his
long johns and took a cold shower. That ensured he’d be fully
awake.The
main room of the three-room cabin had warmed up by the time he’d
dressed. After downing two cups of coffee, Dalton stood by the window
in the kitchen and called Brandt.His
oldest brother answered on the fourth ring. “’Bout damn time,
Dalton. Where the hell have you been that you can’t return a phone
call?”No
doubt Brandt thought he was f***ing off someplace. Little did he know
how tiring it was leading a ten-day hunting party into the mountains.
But Dalton no longer explained his life choices to anyone. “What’s
goin’ on? I had twenty-four missed calls in the last twelve hours.”
No one knew Sierra had his number. His brothers would be pissed if
they knew Dalton kept in better contact with Sierra than with
them.“Dad
had a stroke.”Silence.
Finally Dalton asked, “Is he okay?”“He’s
alive, if that’s what you mean. He’s havin’ difficulties
talkin’. They’re not sure if it’s permanent. They’re not too
sure of anything at this point. So we—me’n Tell—are asking you
to come home.”Dalton
closed his eyes. He didn’t want to play nursemaid to the man who’d
made his life hell. Especially not after the last conversation they’d
had, which was the biggest reason Dalton had left Sundance for
good—not that he’d told his brothers or anyone else about what’d
gone down. “I don’t know if I can.”“Can’t?
Or won’t?” Brandt demanded.“Why
do you want me there?”“Hey,
bro. Brandt put you on speaker phone,” Tell said. “Look, we need
you to help us make some decisions about Dad’s care.”Dalton
let his forehead rest against the frosted windowpane.“We
haven’t seen you in over three years. It sucks that something like
this had to happen for you to even consider comin’ home. But we do
need you here.”He
pictured his brothers, Tell leaning against the window in the cab of
Brandt’s truck, his restless fingers tapping on his leg. Brandt
seated behind the steering wheel, his posture stiff, arms crossed
over his chest.“When
did this happen?” Dalton asked.“Brandt
got a call from the hospital in Spearfish yesterday morning. They
wouldn’t let us see him until late afternoon. Soon as we had some
information, we tried calling you.” Tell paused. “You ain’t
gotten any better at returning calls.”“But
I did return it. Not fast enough for you?” he asked sharply. Jesus.
Within two minutes of talking to his brothers he’d reverted to the
defensive guy he’d left behind. He exhaled slowly. “Sorry. Cell
service here is spotty.”“Where
are you?”Don’t
feel guilty they don’t know. “Alder, Montana. We’re in the
midst of a blizzard so it might be a couple days before I can make it
out of the mountains.”Silence.“Has
the doctor given you a time frame on how long he’ll be in the
hospital?”“No,”
Brandt said. “But when Dad is discharged, it’ll be to the rehab
wing in a nursing home.”That
oughta make Casper even more the patient from hell. “Sounds like it
won’t matter then if I’m not there for a couple of days. I’ll
let you know when I’m on my way.”“Sure.
Will you be staying with one of us?” Tell asked.“Nah.
I’ve got it covered. Thanks though.”Neither
of his brothers asked where he’d be bunking down, although he
sensed they wanted to.“Okay,
then. I guess we’ll see you when we see you.”“Yep.
Later.” Dalton hung up.He
stared out the window for the longest time, even though he couldn’t
see sh** through the swirling snow.But
this storm wasn’t anything compared to the one he faced in
Sundance.The
blizzard lasted two days. On the morning of the third day Dalton
packed up his stuff, closed up his cabin and headed down the
mountain.Once
he had a clear cell signal, he gave Brandt a heads up he was on his
way. Brandt said they’d moved Casper to the rehab wing and to meet
them there.Then
he placed a call to Sierra.She
answered with, “I swear every time I call you and I don’t hear
back I live in mortal fear that you’ve disconnected from the world
completely and you’re out in the forest running naked with
woodchucks and sh**.”“Not
hardly. I returned the calls in order of importance.”“So
you’ve talked to your brothers?”“Yeah.
I’m on my way to Wyoming right now.”“They
giving you grief about…well, everything?”“They
both knew it wouldn’t take much for me to refuse to come back.”
He flipped on the defroster. “How’d you find out about Casper’s
stroke?”“Keely.
I knew your brothers would get a hold of you first, so my call isn’t
about your father.”“Then
why did you call?” Dalton heard her take a deep breath and he went
on full alert.In
a rush, Sierra said, “You’ve got to promise me that you won’t
get mad at me for what I’m about to tell you.”“No
conversation ever ends well that starts that way.”“True,
but I want you to remember I was only following your parameters. And
I kinda hoped someone else would tell you about this, so I didn’t
have to. But then, you’d have to actually talk to someone who lives
there, and we both know that’s a rarity, so I guess it falls to
me.”“You
been drinkin’? ’Cause you ain’t making a lick of sense. Quit
dancing around the subject, college girl, and spill it.”“Rory
is back in Sundance and working for Wyoming Natural Resource
Council.”Everything
switched into slow motion. Dalton couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t
think. He had to pull onto the shoulder so he didn’t wreck his
truck.“Dalton?”“You
said Rory is livin’ in Sundance.”“Yes.”“With
her fiancé?”“No.
She, ah, broke off the engagement.”“When?”“Six
months ago.”This
was not happening. Sierra had not kept this information from him
about Rory for half a goddamned year.“Dalton.
I know your head is about to explode—”“Jesus,
Sierra, do you f***ing think? Why are you just telling me this now?”
he roared. “Do you have any f***ing idea—”“That
you’ve been holed up in the middle of freakin’ nowhere moping
because Rory got engaged to someone else? Why yes, I was completely
aware of that little factoid, cuz.”Silence.“Besides,
you were doing your lumberjack gig and completely off the grid when
Rory ended the engagement. I’ll remind you of your zero tolerance
policy—me not talking about Rory or sharing information about
Rory’s life was your edict, Dalton. I was just following your
parameters. And now the parameters have changed.”“Seriously
not f***ing amused. Will you just get to the point?”“I
really have to point out that you and Rory will actually be in the
same place for the first time in over three years?”“Three
years? Try ten years since she’s lived there. I’da been in
Sundance six months ago if I’d known she was there without some
other asshole’s ring on her finger,” he snarled.“Whoa.
Take a step back, wolverine. I’m telling you now because maybe
you’re smart enough to handle it the right way this time.”“This
time?” Dalton repeated sharply. “Don’t make this out to be my
fault. I offered her—”“Don’t
snap at me or interrupt me again or I will hang up,
understand?”“Yeah,
yeah, keep talkin’.”“Rory
is my sister. You’re my business partner and one of the few people
I trust. I hate that I’m pulled between you two. It’s time you
manned up, Dalton. And don’t remind me that you did that once three
years ago after you walked out on your own wedding. Even you can
admit it was piss poor timing on your part.”“But
that bad timing didn’t stop her from giving me an edict, did
it?”“Like
I’ve told you ten thousand times, that wasn’t an edict. Two years
was a time line for Rory to finish grad school and a frame of
reference for you to understand how important that was to her. You
shouldn’t have taken it as gospel.”“Then
she shouldn’t have given me false hope.”“Then
you shouldn’t have turned tail and run again,” Sierra retorted.
“Especially after you gave her false hope that things might finally
change between you two.”Like
he needed that reminder. “Does she know about Casper?”“Doubtful.
She’s been out of town and she stays out of McKay gossip
completely.”Then
Rory wouldn’t suspect Dalton was on his way back to Sundance. The
element of surprise might work in his favor. “What’s the best way
to approach her?”“She
bartends at the Twin Pines on the side. She’s working tonight.
Anything else I can do for you besides making your day with this
news?” Sierra asked sweetly.Making
his day? Hell, she’d made his life, because now he had a shot at
getting the life he wanted. “Where are the keys for the house in
town?”A
pause. Then, “Why?”“I
need a place to stay.”Sierra
heaved a put-upon sigh. “They’re under the back deck on a key
hook. But there are two conditions before I’ll let you stay there.
First, you don’t tell anyone I own it. No one.”“Deal.
And FYI, that’s why we have a silent partnership.” He’d
supplied Sierra with some capital to start her own business last year
and he also wanted it kept on the down low. “What’s the second
condition?”“I
need a handyman to do some things. Okay, a lot of things. You’re
handy, you’re there and voila—you’re selected. I’ll FedEx my
repair list today but anything else you see that needs fixed just go
ahead.”“I’ll
do it but I want to be reimbursed once a week for whatever I buy. You
don’t get to pull that sixty day wait for payment bull crap like
you money people usually do.”She
laughed. “That’s how we become money people. We hold on to money
as long as possible. Be warned, some of what needs done will be major
costs.”“I
ain’t a carpet installer,” he warned. “Nor will I put in
windows.”Sierra
sighed again. “You are a handy handyman, right?”“Guess
you’ll have to trust me, huh?”“I’ll
be keeping tabs on you.” Another pause. “I’m sorry about your
dad. If you need to talk about anything—except for Rory—call
me.”By
the time Dalton crossed into Crook County hours later, he had a plan
in place.Patience.
Perseverance. He would not blow this chance.Rory
Wetzler was his. His. She always had been, she always would be.And
he’d do whatever it took to prove it.